Taal Volcano in Tagaytay

Three weeks ago, we were very busy at work preparing for start up of our FCC unit (which ended up failing and delaying for 2 weeks), but we managed to get away for the weekend to a sweet town called Tagaytay. They closed the ferry from Orion (here in Bataan) to Manila because it wasn't profitable enough so that eliminated our option to hire a car from there. We ended up taking one of our drivers (Joel, our favorite) from here in Balanga for the overnight trip. Anshul, Ben, Basel and his family, and I left very early Saturday morning for the long drive. We dropped Basel, his wife, and daughter off in Manila on the way through which left us with 3, so we got 2 hotel rooms in Tagaytay so Joel could sleep in a bed too. It was raining when we got there, and the clouds prevented us from seeing much of anything, so we decided to look for some things to do in town.

After a delicious dinner at a Greek restaurant (nice to get some decent red wine), we went looking for a bar. But we didn’t find a bar…we found a CASINO! We played some slots for a while, then went to a bar and resorted to our favorite leisure activity…playing billiards and watching scantily clad ladies sing cover songs.

Tagaytay Pictures

We awoke in the morning to a much nicer and clearer day. We set out, visited People's Park in the Sky, rented a boat, and got across to the base of the volcano. At the base, people were harassing us with offers of cheap souvenirs, drinks, and renting a donkey to ride up the volcano. This seemed ridiculous to me at the time, so we opted to walk. After a little ways, I could see why this donkey business was so popular. The trail was very rocky and narrow, made even more difficult because of all the donkey traffic. There wasn’t exactly a donkey HOV lane.

I am still glad we walked, as it was good exercise and good scenery…just really hot. Finally atop the volcano, we could see inside to Crater Lake in which another island has formed. So basically it’s an island inside a lake inside a volcano that exists in a lake in Tagaytay, Luzon, Philippines. Yes, it was as awesome as it sounds...but it always is in my world.

I didn't take this picture (obviously, since its aerial), but you can see the bullseye it makes with the lake inside the volcano. So much natural beauty in the Philippines.